We watch TV so you don't have to. But you should. You really should.

Not only are these some of the first words spoken about ginger-haired Archie Andrews in The CW’s “Riverdale,” it’s a safe bet they were also part of the pitch made to the network when selling the new teen drama.

No longer the dopey-eyed boy from the long-runningcomic book series, Archie (KJ Apa) is now a chiseled, football-playing hunk, standing shirtless and being leered at through a bedroom window in his first appearance on screen. His aforementioned abs are a product of a summer spent pouring concrete for his dad, during which time he also discovered a love of music and, oh yeah, affinity for sleeping with his teacher.… Read More »

The heartbreaking day-apart deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds last month aren’t what make HBO’s “Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds” a dazzling, bittersweet and absorbing portrait of a Hollywood pair like none other. The unsinkable mother-daughter duo do that all their own.

Still, as Carrie and Debbie are laid to rest Friday, the documentary, premiering 8 p.m. Saturday, undoubtedly takes on an overwhelmingly poignant tone, and acts as a tribute to the real-life love story between a mother and daughter who grew inseparable with age, even after Hollywood and life did its best to tear them apart.… Read More »

When Victor Fleming’s incomparable musical “The Wizard of Oz” was released in 1939, it was a marvel of technical genius and a technicolor wonder that still enchants 78 years later. Today, the story seems so modest.

A Kansas girl next door gets picked up by a tornado and dropped in a kingdom where she must travel to a Wizard, with a merry band of eclectic sidekicks, to make her way home — and melts a wicked green witch with a bucket of water along the way.

So naturally, in today’s free-for-all TV climate, where innocence doesn’t sell as well as dark and violent, NBC has re-imagined the classic story that’s been retold and readapted more times than there are Munchkins. The resulting 10-hour series ”Emerald City” twists, darkens, deepens and ultimately hollows out Oz of what made it magical: it’s simplicity.… Read More »

If you’re reading this, it’s likely Netflix’s “Black Mirror” has not convinced you to throw your computer and/or phone out a window. Way to stay strong. Viewers who have devoured the British series’ newly released third season — and the previous two — know all too well it’s hard to come out the other side looking at the technology we rely on every day the same way. In an anthology structure, “Black Mirror” tells unconnected hour-long cautionary tales of technology… Read More »

Even in the current world of streaming giants and a few hundred networks, the chances of life after cancellation are slim.

So it was a bittersweet moment for fans (myself included) of HBO’s gay drama “Looking” last fall when the network cancelled the critically acclaimed but little-watched show, only to promise movie to tie up loose ends.

“Looking” served a community of television viewers who are scarcely offered consistent programming reflecting their daily life. Among today’s some 400 annual TV shows, LGBT characters largely serve supporting (and often expendable) roles on television, making a show like “Looking” important, rare and something that will leave a void.

It was frank and unflinching in its depiction of gay life in the age of dating apps that can pinpoint an available suitor within feet – all while tracing the streets of the neighborhoods in San Francisco where the gay rights movement was nurtured.

Airing 9 p.m. Saturday, the effective-but-imperfect wrap-up movie continues much of what earned the show its praise and occasional criticism. It’s a understated love letter to fans that found themselves invested in the core group of ordinary thirty-somethings impressively fleshed out over just 18 episodes.

In the film, Patrick (Jonathan Groff) returns to San Francisco for a wedding after accepting a job in Denver following the season two finale, during which he broke up with his boyfriend, Kevin (Russell Tovey), and shared a fleeting romantic moment with his ex, Ritchie (Raul Castillo).

From the outset, it is clear but not wholly surprising that director Andrew Haigh and creator/writer Michael Lannan remain committed to almost exclusively servicing Patrick’s story first and his friends second – despite the show increasingly embracing its talented ensemble in season two (the Doris-centric “Looking for a Plot” episode is a standout).

Even with two seasons of stories behind them, Dom (Murray Bartlett) and Augustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) – Patrick’s two best friends and the show’s co-leads – are relegated to supporting characters flanking Patrick’s leading man — who appears in every scene in the movie. This despite both proving on multiple occasions to be more compelling characters than Patrick in his own story.

Still, it’s just a pleasure to see this trio – and Lauren Weedman’s brass but lovable Doris – once again in their natural habitat, grappling with the issues of commitment, their past transgresses and uncertainties about the future.

Fans get their confrontations and resolutions – including an extended reunion between Patrick and Kevin. But it never uses its new cinematic framework to create situations that feel inauthentic to the show’s foundation. There are no big cameos (though Tyne Daly does turn in a wonderful bit part) or wild road trips – just some of the leaps some TV shows succumb to in their transition to film. These final chapters for Patrick, Dom, Augustin and Doris are grounded, much like the show’s storylines were.

In this way, the “Looking” movie feels like another episode of of the series – just longer and with a little poignant finality thrown into the mix.

The morning Emmy nominations are announced is one of both pleasure and pain. Just as quickly as a greatly deserving talent lands a spot on the ballot, five more come to mind who were robbed of the recognition. It’s a rollercoaster of emotion to say the least. Thursday morning’s nominations were no different. While shows currently in their prime scored continued support from the Television Academy (“Game of Thrones,” “Veep”) and new shows received their first wave of nominations (“The… Read More »

In the age of so-called peak TV, when the number of TV shows stretched across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms soars past 400 annually, it’s hard to wade through the flood of viewing options. But with half the year behind us and heat indexes pushing the thermometer into the triple digits, summer is the perfect time to crank up the AC and watch some TV. To help you out, here are the 10 best TV shows (in my humble opinion)… Read More »

Today’s television viewers – particularly millennials digesting their favorite shows 10 episodes at a time on their phones – likely don’t remember or even know of the eight nights in 1977 when more than 100 million Americans gathered in front of their TV sets for “Roots.” The pioneering television event series, an adaptation of Alex Haley’s novel, broke viewership records and became a cultural landmark for its unflinching depiction of slavery, told through the eyes of three generations of African-Americans… Read More »

Is “Indian Summers” the “Downton Abbey” successor PBS so desperately wants it to be? Not quite. Not yet. But it has potential. “Indian Summers” is set in the summer of 1932 in a small mountain village in India where the ruling Brits come every year to escape the heat. The series, which premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday as part of “Masterpiece: Classic,” explores the changing circumstances of those British citizens struggling to maintain a status quo and the increasingly independence-minded… Read More »

Tonight, “American Masters” brings the story of Althea Gibson to PBS. It’s perhaps fitting that a documentary about the African-American tennis pioneer will air while Serena Williams dominates the U.S. Open. It’s also a week before Althea Gibson Week is celebrated in Wilmington beginning the second Monday of September. Gibson, who got a lot of her early tennis training in Wilmington, was the first African-American to play and win at Wimbledon (1957 and 1958) and at the U.S. Nationals (1957… Read More »

“Vicious” is a broad, heavy-handed British sitcom that’s barely held together by the talents of its top-notch cast. Sirs Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellan star as Stuart and Freddie, a gay couple who’ve lived together (and bickered together) for five decades. Their daily routine usually involves visits from their old friend Violet (Frances de la Tour) and young upstairs neighbor, Ash (Iwan Rheon). The show returns for a six-episode second season tonight to PBS, and if you didn’t watch the… Read More »

“Inside Amy Schumer,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Jinx,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and “Justified” are among the eclectic list of shows honored with nominations for the 2015 Television Critics Association Awards.

The organization, of which I am a member, recognized a slew of new shows, including Fox’s “Empire,” The CW’s “Jane the Virgin” and “The Flash” and Amazon’s “Transparent.”
Click through for the full list.… Read More »